Badges. They just seem so pesky. It’s even worse when they end up appearing and you can’t get rid of them – for example if you have an OTA update badge on your Settings application, or a badge on your App Store application because of an update for iWork/iLife requiring iOS 5.1 when you are only running iOS 5.0.1. Whatever the case, iOS developer Caleb Mott has come out with three separate free applications in Cydia, which will allow you to make those application badges disappear on demand.

The first application is for the App Store. It’s used for hiding the badges related to application updates you don’t want to install. Installing this application from Cydia, dubbed No AppStore Badges, will put an icon on your home screen that will kill your App Store’s badges when launched. The application will then prompt you and then close when you tap the ‘Remove Badges’ button. If it doesn’t work the first time, the developer says to try it again, however it does appear to work the first time. Additionally, you can use MobileTerminal – log in as root and then run the command: NASB.

The second application deals with OTA badges on your Settings application. We know Apple’s OTA system allows us to update our iOS devices right from the iOS device itself, however if we are jailbroken, then updating isn’t necessarily one of our greatest interests. This application is also free in Cydia, dubbed OTA Begone. Following the same process, excluding the prompt, you can launch this application when you have an OTA badge and it will automatically close and remove the badge for you. Alternatively, you can use MobileTerminal – log in as root and then run the command: OTABegone.

The last application is only for Cydia. Cydia will get badges when you have package updates, however you have to manually enter Cydia and refresh your sources to find those, whereas with the other two applications, the update badges can pop up automatically. Using the same process as the other two applications, you can open the free application, dubbed No Cydia Badges, and it will prompt you to remove the badges and then the application will close – taking all Cydia badges with it. If you prefer playing with commands, you can use MobileTerminal – log in as root and then run the command: NCB.

There are some obvious pros and cons for these applications. Obviously, it’s a pro being able to remove application badges on demand so they’re out of your face and you can enjoy your iOS environment more freely. On the other hand however, it’s tedious needing to have three separate applications clogging up the home screen to take care of these tasks and it’s additionally as tedious knowing that they’re just band-aids for the badges because they’re going to come back as soon as you open the applications up again. The icons are also not very attractive in terms of appearance.

For a free set of applications, they’re open for trying them to see if they fit your tastes, however alternatives like Springtomize 2 can easily remove any iOS badge you want to with a couple of taps and also without the need to clutter your home screen.

via modmyi

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